2021 Irish Property Market chat - *mod warnings post 1*

DataDude

Hubertj wrote: »

Totally agree. My wife was big on the sunlight piece. Never occurred to me... she insisted on a viewing in the evening time. I was oblivious..

If you’re ever viewing again, highly recommend an app called ‘sun surveyor’. It’s a 10er but you can put camera up to the sky and it will show you where the sun will be at any time on any day of the year. Great for highlighting potential obstacles during a viewing.

Think you need a reasonably modern phone and would recommend trying out at home before a viewing. I was fiddling around with it for ages in someone’s garden the first time around!

RichardAnd

DataDude wrote: »

Butter them up a bit. Complain a bit about restrictions, tell them how crazy it is that you can go to the shops with 100s of people but can’t view an empty house alone. ‘Is a home not essential??’. Praise the great and important work they do. Let them rant a little and you’re in. Works every time!

This probably would work, but virtual viewings in and of themselves are highly disruptive. I called an estate agent last week about a house in Coolock that was listed for 240k on a Friday evening. By Tuesdays (when I called), the highest big was 298k, and apparently no one had yet seen it.

The agent told me that I could make a bid to see the house, thus one can assume that many of the bids that pushed up the price were simply people who wanted to see the house and had no intention of buying. There is indeed a supply issue, but this is simply confounding the problem. I'm not one to moralise, but this is not what I would consider to be an ethical business practice, but I digress....

My worry is that estate agents, at least those in Dublin, will not simply end the "bid to view" method as it is forcing up prices, even if physical viewing are permitted.

EDIT: incidentally, I asked the agent above what was required to make a bid, and he told me that he could accept it over the phone. When I asked him whether he wished me to provide proof of funds, he said that it wasn't necessary to make an offer. Hmm....

Villa05

bubblypop wrote:

I posted this is the buying thread, but this is a sign of craziness. 2 bed ex council in cabra, will sell for over half a million. Madness!

Just a thought
Does social housing get stigmatised by the few noisy over the many decent estates and even within the few noisy estates it's the very few households responsible for the vast majority of trouble

Bad apples and empty vessels and all that wisdom etc

Browney7

bubblypop wrote: »

https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/62-newgrange-road-cabra-dublin-7/4490824

I posted this is the buying thread, but this is a sign of craziness.
2 bed ex council in cabra, will sell for over half a million. Madness!

Sold for 257.5k in 2015. They probably spent 100k on the place max?

Mr_Muffin

I live in a part of the country (South-West) where house prices aren't as high as say, Dublin or Cork city, but the demand is still there, as properties don't stay on the market for long and most go for above the listed price. Property prices are sky high because of this relevant to the location.

I can't get my head around where people are actually getting the money to purchase such properties. I know people get mortgages (obviously), but with the 3.5 gross salary rule, it's still a stretch for anyone on even a good salary to afford a modest home. Am I missing something?

RichardAnd

Mr_Muffin wrote: »

I live in a part of the country (South-West) where house prices aren't as high as say, Dublin or Cork city, but the demand is still there, as properties don't stay on the market for long and most go for above the listed price. Property prices are sky high because of this relevant to the location.

I can't get my head around where people are actually getting the money to purchase such properties. I know people get mortgages (obviously), but with the 3.5 gross salary rule, it's still a stretch for anyone on even a good salary to afford a modest home. Am I missing something?

I ask myself this question too. IT could be investment firms, but then again, some people do have a hell of a lot of cash in savings. Two people on 70k+ would put away a lot of savings, and they would qualify for a large mortgage to boot.

MacronvFrugals

Browney7 wrote: »

Sold for 257.5k in 2015. They probably spent 100k on the place max?

In the last few weeks a house went up for 450k in Cabra, it sold for 540k to a Chinese investor.

Very nicely done house but 540k wow

Reins

Pussyhands wrote: »

I'm seeing that crazyhouseprices instagram page spammed everywhere.

Gave it a like but noticed he's got a patreon set up. Some chancers out there!

Oh come on!

He's over 32k followers so reaching a wide audience which is only good.

€1.85 patronage a month is hardly gonna break the bank.

I'd happily pay it.

ebayissues

1.85 x 1000/32,000 followers x 12 = 22k

Every little helps

Lia_lia

Mr_Muffin wrote: »

I live in a part of the country (South-West) where house prices aren't as high as say, Dublin or Cork city, but the demand is still there, as properties don't stay on the market for long and most go for above the listed price. Property prices are sky high because of this relevant to the location.

I can't get my head around where people are actually getting the money to purchase such properties. I know people get mortgages (obviously), but with the 3.5 gross salary rule, it's still a stretch for anyone on even a good salary to afford a modest home. Am I missing something?

People have lots of savings. Not unusual for a couple to have 100k savings towards a house deposit. And many have inheritance/rich parents!

Reins

ebayissues wrote: »

1.85 x 1000/32,000 followers x 12 = 22k

Every little helps

He has 200 patreons

32k Instagram FOLLOWERS

KBH2020

Mr_Muffin wrote: »

I live in a part of the country (South-West) where house prices aren't as high as say, Dublin or Cork city, but the demand is still there, as properties don't stay on the market for long and most go for above the listed price. Property prices are sky high because of this relevant to the location.

I can't get my head around where people are actually getting the money to purchase such properties. I know people get mortgages (obviously), but with the 3.5 gross salary rule, it's still a stretch for anyone on even a good salary to afford a modest home. Am I missing something?

We are looking in Dublin and I think what is happening currently is people who would normally be looking to buy a house in the 500-600k bracket are now making bids in the 400-500k bracket, likewise people in the 400-500k bracket are now looking in the 300-400k bracket and this is all because of the limited supply and the desperation to secure a property. I can't think of any other explanation as to how houses are getting offers so high above the asking price. I believe the majority of people normally max out their budget when buying a property to get the best property they can afford.

I read something last year that said the average deposit in Dublin was approx 85K for the past few years. I am not sure if this is massively skewed by people who have large inheritances rather than savings but I imagine a lot of people across the country do have large deposits, whether saved or inherited. Of course Covid has contributed greatly to savings for a lot of people who were in the market to buy.

It is mind boggling though. I have been saving since 2015, myself and partner living with my parents for 1.5 years (always planned to go for AIP Jan 2021), we have been saving majority of our income each month for this entire time, we worked very hard to get two promotions each..got the AIP we needed and now we feel we are priced out of the type of house we had hoped to buy. Extremely frustrating and difficult after the last year as well. There will be a lot of people locked out of the market completely because of this and I can't even imagine how they must feel.

I think bidding will calm a bit with supply and in person viewings but don't know when

Villa05

Villa05 wrote: »

Just a thought
Does social housing get stigmatised by the few noisy over the many decent estates and even within the few noisy estates it's the very few households responsible for the vast majority of trouble

Bad apples and empty vessels and all that wisdom etc

absolutely.
I have no issue with social housing, you can't pick your neighbours no matter where you live. I just meant to explain the type of house it was, I'm not for a second saying anything about the neighbours! I'm sure they are all 100%

Samuel T. Cogley

Villa05 wrote: »

Just a thought
Does social housing get stigmatised by the few noisy over the many decent estates and even within the few noisy estates it's the very few households responsible for the vast majority of trouble

Bad apples and empty vessels and all that wisdom etc

Absolutely it's a small number of people. But I defy anyone to show me the instance of these people is the same or more by private owners. I'm not saying you can't get an asshat of a private owner, just the likelihood is much lower.

And before anyone starts I happily live on an ex-corpo estate with plenty of social housing still in it (bought back at enormous cost). Even they get a bit worried when the council buys a new place or there's a new tenant put in.

Villa05

Samuel T. Cogley wrote:

Absolutely it's a small number of people. But I defy anyone to show me the instance of these people is the same or more by private owners. I'm not saying you can't get an asshat of a private owner, just the likelihood is much lower.

bubblypop wrote:

absolutely. I have no issue with social housing, you can't pick your neighbours no matter where you live. I just meant to explain the type of house it was, I'm not for a second saying anything about the neighbours! I'm sure they are all 100%

The reason I say this is the policy of having social housing mixed in almost all new estates at great cost.

If the isuue is the minority, spreading social housing does not address the isuue of problem estates

The issue is the failure to deal effectively with those that are causing trouble.

TheSheriff

bubblypop wrote: »

Ah stop! I'm watching the market around there for ages, any house on the navan road is a lot more desirable, bigger house, bigger garden, better location.
It is done lovely, but that's crazy money for what it is.

Edit, don't know what the bidding is, but there must be huge interest, the asking price has gone up by 45,000 euro!

Out of interest, what do you think this is worth?

Samuel T. Cogley

Villa05 wrote: »

The reason I say this is the policy of having social housing mixed in almost all new estates at great cost.

If the isuue is the minority, spreading social housing does not address the isuue of problem estates

The issue is the failure to deal effectively with those that are causing trouble.

I personally think it should be spread out, you avoid ghettos. However there absolutely should be better ways of dealing with those causing trouble. In the UK housing associations work directly with the Police to shut down dealing for example.

Villa05

Villa05 wrote: »

The reason I say this is the policy of having social housing mixed in almost all new estates at great cost.

If the isuue is the minority, spreading social housing does not address the isuue of problem estates

The issue is the failure to deal effectively with those that are causing trouble.

If you have a problem neighbour who is a social tenant, you have avenues to deal with the problem.
If your problem neighbour owns their house, you're stuck with them.
And believe me there is plenty of issues between neighbours!

TheSheriff

TheSheriff wrote: »

Out of interest, what do you think this is worth?

Honestly? I would think 395, hundred less then the asking price.

Browney7

bubblypop wrote: »

Honestly? I would think 395, hundred less then the asking price.

Half a mill for a 2 bed (albeit a well finished and good size one) in Cabra is very much "call it off" territory. Fair play to them if they get it

TheSheriff

Browney7 wrote: »

Half a mill for a 2 bed (albeit a well finished and good size one) in Cabra is very much "call it off" territory. Fair play to them if they get it

Agree, probably pushing it, but I think they'll get it + more.

TheSheriff

TheSheriff wrote: »

Agree, probably pushing it, but I think they'll get it + more.

they will, for sure!

Littleredcar

RichardAnd wrote: »

This probably would work, but virtual viewings in and of themselves are highly disruptive. I called an estate agent last week about a house in Coolock that was listed for 240k on a Friday evening. By Tuesdays (when I called), the highest big was 298k, and apparently no one had yet seen it.

The agent told me that I could make a bid to see the house, thus one can assume that many of the bids that pushed up the price were simply people who wanted to see the house and had no intention of buying. There is indeed a supply issue, but this is simply confounding the problem. I'm not one to moralise, but this is not what I would consider to be an ethical business practice, but I digress....

My worry is that estate agents, at least those in Dublin, will not simply end the "bid to view" method as it is forcing up prices, even if physical viewing are permitted.

EDIT: incidentally, I asked the agent above what was required to make a bid, and he told me that he could accept it over the phone. When I asked him whether he wished me to provide proof of funds, he said that it wasn't necessary to make an offer. Hmm....

Where in coolock are you looking

optogirl

Browney7 wrote: »

Half a mill for a 2 bed (albeit a well finished and good size one) in Cabra is very much "call it off" territory. Fair play to them if they get it

This one has broken me. When we got approved last September we were confident we could find a decent house in Cabra for 320. Now we are resigned to staying renting because we just can't buy something that doesn't need another 50k worth of work to make it habitable. At least our rent is predictable but if the landlord decides now is the time to sell, and why wouldn't he, we're screwed.

RichardAnd

Littleredcar wrote: »

Where in coolock are you looking

I'm actually not. Coolock is reasonably close to my parents, and the house was in an okay area, so I thought to call to see what was happening with it. I'm not really looking to buy just now as I see no value for money and I'm not in a hurry.

The asking price for houses in that area tends to be around 250, or it was a few weeks ago. If they sold for that, I would say that it's a fair price, but I'd wager that they're going for closer to 300k at the moment.

Littleredcar

RichardAnd wrote: »

I'm actually not. Coolock is reasonably close to my parents, and the house was in an okay area, so I thought to call to see what was happening with it. I'm not really looking to buy just now as I see no value for money and I'm not in a hurry.

The asking price for houses in that area tends to be around 250, or it was a few weeks ago. If they sold for that, I would say that it's a fair price, but I'd wager that they're going for closer to 300k at the moment.

I’m selling in the area I went sale agreed ages ago but no contracts signed and disaster . I’m not looking at houses much smaller on same area going for a lot more . I’ve my own home to sell in same area but prices pushing up will shortly push me out of market

Villa05

Samuel T. Cogley wrote:

I personally think it should be spread out, you avoid ghettos. However there absolutely should be better ways of dealing with those causing trouble. In the UK housing associations work directly with the Police to shut down dealing for example.

Spread out is one thing, but paying up to three quarters of a million for a 2 bed unit for social/affordable is nuts.
It is the definition of anti affordable

There are limits on HAP payment, there should also be limits on social/affordable

RichardAnd

Littleredcar wrote: »

I’m selling in the area I went sale agreed ages ago but no contracts signed and disaster . I’m not looking at houses much smaller on same area going for a lot more . I’ve my own home to sell in same area but prices pushing up will shortly push me out of market

That sounds horrible. It's reprehensible to agree to buy something without following through on the agreement.

Are you considering putting the place back on the market? If the buyer to be is dragging his heels, it seems best just to cut the loss and start over.

Littleredcar

RichardAnd wrote: »

That sounds horrible. It's reprehensible to agree to buy something without following through on the agreement.

Are you considering putting the place back on the market? If the buyer to be is dragging his heels, it seems best just to cut the loss and start over.

I think I’m going to have to . Picked this buyer for a quick sale 🙄. Little did I know

standardg60

bubblypop wrote: »

Ah stop! I'm watching the market around there for ages, any house on the navan road is a lot more desirable, bigger house, bigger garden, better location.
It is done lovely, but that's crazy money for what it is.

Edit, don't know what the bidding is, but there must be huge interest, the asking price has gone up by 45,000 euro!

It went straight up after the feature in the Irish Times, which are just promotions nowadays.
I remember when the 'we say' bit always alluded to a genuine negative of the featured property, amazing what a bit of threatened litigation achieves!